


The Horrible Something

by Nununununu



Series: Nununununu's Kinktober 2019 fics [24]
Category: Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Alien Sex, Bath Sex, Comfort Sex, Consensual, Day 23, Don't copy to another site, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Explicit Sexual Content, Feelings, First Kiss, First Time, Friends to Lovers, Healing, Interspecies, Kinktober 2019, M/M, Sexual Experimentation, Shapeshifting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2019-11-04
Packaged: 2021-01-15 02:55:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21246320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nununununu/pseuds/Nununununu
Summary: “Okay,” Eddie slumped over the moment Venom judged they were safe enough to stop, bracing himself with his hands on his knees, his voice strained and his breath coming hard, “Okay, so that happened. That –”Shivering inside him, Venom summed it up succinctly,That was bad.In other words, Eddie and Venom fall over a feline, experience a loss, encounter a freakishly fearless forest demon (or not), work up to talking about things and come out swinging on the other side.





	The Horrible Something

**Author's Note:**

> Day 23: Eddie Brock / Venom (Comfort Sex, Bath/Shower Sex, Alien Sex, Sexual Experimentation + a bit of Magical Healing Space Goo)
> 
> **Trigger warning** for that emotional hurt and some negative self-image - the consequences of childhood abuse and Carl Brock's stellar parenting, repression and some implied PTSD, although none of these are described in detail. Fic also deals with the aftermath of offscreen canon typical peril and non-graphic injuries, and there's a tiny bit of disassociation during sex, although the smut is all consensual and this is quickly resolved.
> 
> A somewhat more emotionally vulnerable Eddie here than usual. The smut includes a bit of Magical Healing Space Goo (aka shapeshifting alien genitalia), although that's far from the extent of the comfort :)

“Okay,” Eddie slumped over the moment Venom judged they were safe enough to stop, bracing himself with his hands on his knees, his voice strained and his breath coming hard, “Okay, so that happened. That –”

Shivering inside him, Venom summed it up succinctly, **_That was bad._**

“Yeah.”

A routine information gathering activity Eddie had expected to take them around an hour or so before dinner had turned into an unexpected shoot out and high speed chase across the city, when they’d been decidedly less subtle than intended and consequently spotted by a bunch of aggressively persistent members of a gang who turned out to be quite possibly Hydra as well as people smugglers.

**_We should have eaten them, _**Venom was sulking.

“Remember those mega noisy, mega horrible fucking stupid converted boom box things they had?” Chafing his arms as he glanced around the ton of unpleasantly featureless woodland they’d ended up in, Eddie reminded his symbiote as if either of them could forget, “They were _expecting_ us, Vee. Whether we tripped over that cat or not, they knew we were going to be there.”

Or else the gang had made a very good guess. It was possible they were getting a bit too well-known in the city.

**_Should have eaten the cat too, _**Venom huffed.

“No, no we shouldn’t have,” Hunching, Eddie rubbed his arms harder. Damn it was cold. Dark too, even with Venom augmenting his vision – which ultimately meant that Eddie could see that, yup, there was no sign of civilisation in whichever direction he looked between all the plant life and, oh hooray, plenty of tall trees he had a sneaking suspicion fate might arrange it that he had to climb.

** _There’s no need to climb a tree, Eddie. Hold on – _ **

“To what?”

It felt like Venom did something inside him, something slotting into place that hadn’t been sitting right, and Eddie gasped at the jolt of pain, before his posture abruptly sorted itself out all on its own.

“Okay, ow,” The pain was gone by the time his face had fallen into a grimace and the next breath he took was much easier, “Oh, hey, that’s better. Thanks.”

**_You’re welcome. _**There had been all sorts of broken bones and other fun damage to sort out when Eddie was summarily ejected off his bike at the particularly enjoyable climax to that wild ride.

Being t-boned by a truck tended to result in that.

** _Hmph. Should have eaten the driver too._**

Said truck had got off lightly in comparison, the driver making a prompt getaway, but they hadn't been in any kind of state to be eating anyone at that point, regardless – the whole shitshow had caught them way off their game. Eddie could only be grateful there hadn’t been anyone there filming this time.

“You really are hungry, aren’t you,” he grimaced sympathetically now: he could feel the _hunger hunger hunger_ pounding inside his symbiote, clogging their bond, made all the worse for the intensive healing Venom had been required to do. Eddie rested his palm over his stomach, where it felt like Venom was coiling, “We didn’t get dinner at all, did we. Want to go hunting? Got to be something in this creepy-ass forest you can eat for us both.”

**_Hmph, _**Venom repeated, **We’re_ the creepy ones._**

“Sure are,” Despite how extremely shitty everything had been that evening – including the Horrible Something he was determinedly Not Thinking About – Eddie cracked a grin as Venom stretched inside him, and they suited up.

\--

_ **Ugh.** _

The creepy-ass forest was decidedly bereft of anything larger than a bunny, as it turned out, except for an extremely freaky fox who was _not at all_ scared of them, however many teeth they manifested or however bigger they were than it.

“_Ugh_.”

Seriously, Eddie was growing convinced the animal was the evil spirit of the place in flesh incarnate. The fox had _followed_ them for ages, stopping to stare at them with uncannily gleaming eyes whenever they paused to look back at it, and Eddie had actually been considering climbing a damn tree to get away from it, except for the certainty it would sit down there all night, watching.

Waiting.

**_Don’t diss the fox, Eddie. _**Venom was feeling inordinately _fond _of the creature for some unknown reason, perhaps – Eddie couldn’t help but feel – in reaction to how weirded out it had made his host. They’d only lost the thing after a protracted showdown over a petrified rabbit Venom had convinced himself he hadn’t lost, but had instead gracefully backed down over. He grinned now, all teeth and tongue, **_That creature had Attitude._**

Attitude it had definitely had.

“Uh-huh, sure did,” Eddie winced now as, the rabbit presumably finished, the fox started to howl. Although –

Although 'howl' wasn’t the right word for it. More accurately, the fox started to make an entirely horrendous strangled yowling noise that descended after a few minutes into the most awfully heart-wrenching child-like sobs, echoing off the barren trees.

Having been extending a tentacle into the opening of some creature’s den in the hope of snagging his own rabbit, Venom froze.

** _What the actual fucking hell. _**

Eddie had never heard him sound so horrified.

“Your good friend’s serenading us,” Shuddering as he curled into a ball on a seat of the world’s most uncomfortable roots, Eddie did his best to send reassurance over their bond. Given he felt about the opposite of reassured himself, it was largely a failed effort.

Venom curled up miserably inside him, **_Eddie, m__ake it stop._**

“Sorry, Vee; wish I could,” Seeking a means of distraction, Eddie considered the creepy-ass bare branches on the huge looming creepy-ass Sleepy Hollow-esque tree overhead, the massive blade-like leaves of all the undergrowth surrounding them, the rocks that seemed to be made of ice-cold broken glass and the equally ice-cold puddles forming a swamp out of most of the – yeah, you guessed it – ice-cold mud underfoot.

“Fuck, I hate nature,” was his conclusion.

**_You were _****_just _****_saying the other day that we ought to get out more, _**Venom helpfully returned.

Eddie responded by grabbing the tentacle, tugging it towards his own body, “Hug me.”

Oh, er –

Okay, crap. He _really_ hadn't meant that the way it came out. But shit, was it cold.

**_Eddie? _** Venom sent him the impression of a blink, seemingly confused by his host's instant mental turmoil rather than the demand, potentially not knowing quite how to react.

They were already half suited-up, Eddie wearing a nifty black goo onesie it didn’t take Venom as much energy to maintain, acting as a form of insulation for the trembling human within. Even so, Eddie was swiftly starting to feel as if his entire body was permeated with the chill despite this, his lungs close to freezing –

** _They’re not._ **

And even if Venom was to fully manifest as a less gross version of a Star Wars Hoth creature Eddie could climb right inside and snuggle down in – now there was a thought – he still was starting to feel like he’d never get warm again.

“Y-yeah, I know,” he was probably being melodramatic.

Although really, Eddie felt like they both deserved a bit of melodrama. To be honest, he felt so fucking pathetically _crushed_ about the Horrible Something, Venom was lucky his host wasn’t doing a fox impression and letting out his own howl.

“Huh,” Instead Eddie found his eyes – oh my god, how lame was he – welling up as he sniffled a bit.

Oh fuck. He was Thinking About It, however frantically he was trying not to.

“Shit,” Even so, he was _not_ _going_ _to cry_, damn it. Way worse crap had happened in Eddie’s life and his dad had always gone ape-shit if Eddie had ever shown even a hint of snivelling, and –

And.

And oh fucking _fuck_, now Eddie was thinking about his old man and everything was that much _worse_. He would have quite happily fed Carl Brock to the devil fox, had the bastard still been around. It pissed Eddie off almost as much as it _hurt_ that Carl and his fucked up opinions still had the power to screw with him even years on, even now.

The _hurt_ battered at him, old pain mixed with new, and Eddie struggled to swallow around the great lump of it in his throat, “_Shit._”

** _Eddie –? _**An undeniable sensation of care and concern was welling up inside him from Venom's side of things, flowing out over their bond stronger than Eddie had ever felt before.

It felt incredible, _wonderful_, but it also had an unfortunate yet rather predictable effect, the tears he had been trying so hard to deny giving into gravity and spilling over.

“I’m – _oh god_. I’m fine, I’m _fine_,” Swiping angrily at his red and wet face, Eddie batted at the tentacle as it stirred to life, nosing at him in open worry, “I just –”

He just nothing. Couldn't even convince himself he was speaking the truth, so there was no chance he could convince Venom. Because –

Because he wasn't. He wasn't okay.

Fuck.

_Fuck._

**_It’s all right, _**Tentacles sprouted by the dozen without warning, weaving firm and real and grounding around Eddie, Venom building himself his huge humanoid body. **_You don’t have to explain or justify anything. Come here._**

“_V-Vee_,” Choking on all the emotion he was fighting to force down, Eddie all but fell into him. Hiding his face in Venom’s shoulder, yes, but also – also –

Wanting. Wanting so very much, so desperately –

“_Fuck_. I'm sorry, I _–_”

**_Hush, _**Strong arms closed around his shoulders. _**It’s all right, Eddie; you don't have to apologise. It's all right. I've got you.**_

Venom was _–_

Venom was hugging him.

_“_V-Vee_,” _Stunned, unable to stop himself, Eddie wound his arms around Venom’s waist in return, clinging on limpet-like, trying his utmost to drown himself in his black goo.

Venom growled unhappily, caught by unpleasant memories, **_We’ll never let you drown._**

“I know, Vee,” Eddie closed his eyes tight as he drank in the warmth and the closeness, the near full body contact, “I know.”

They stayed like that for a while, Venom appearing content to keep holding him while Eddie concentrated on his breathing, beginning to calm down. The fox had stopped its yowling, at least _– _he made himself focus on that.

**_Eddie?_** The tentacle tip that eventually slid over Eddie's wet cheek made him wince reflexively, embarrassed. There was genuine confusion in Venom’s following question, **_Why do you feel ashamed of this?_**

“I – ah. I know it’s not shameful,” Everything inside Eddie insisted _but_.

Stiffening, he instinctively sought to draw back. Clinging to people was something he’d always been berated for too and this was already far longer than he'd ever dared touch Venom previously.

**_No, _**Strong arms tightened around him at once only to loosen a moment later, as if Venom caught himself, **_Please? Can't we just – stay like this. Just a bit more?_**

“_H-hah_,” A shiver chased through Eddie at the request, “I – I guess so. Yes. Please.”

The last two words in this sentence were his real answer.

Nestling into Venom again with a piercing feeling of gratitude and incredible relief, helplessly wallowing in the contact, Eddie found words to answer his symbiote’s question with after a few tries, “Um. A-as for why some people think crying is – why they _believe _it's shameful, I suppose my, er.” He hadn't been able to say the words 'dad' or 'father' aloud for decades. “Well, when I was a kid I was always, you know, told it was. And I know better, but. I guess I still internalised that.”

**_Hmm. _**Venom's growl was so low it reverberated through Eddie's bones, **_Carl Brock was a twisted ignorant fuck who would have given us indigestion –_**

“You’ve got that one right,” Eddie muttered.

** _But we would have eaten him for you anyway, Eddie. _ **

“O-oh,” That was – probably the sweetest thing Venom had ever said to him. Eddie had to resume attempting to drown himself in the effort to conceal the way the flush in his cheeks spread out to encompass his ears and rest of his face. For all the horribleness the conversation was threatening to make him remember, he found himself smiling a tiny bit without meaning to at all, “Thanks, Vee.”

His symbiote did the equivalent of sniffing. **_I’m sorry he’s dead. _**

Blinking, Eddie didn't even try to edit himself, “I'm not.”

**_I would have liked to list the error of his ways to him before eating him slowly, piece by piece, limb by limb, _**Venom explained and, while this was perhaps a little more descriptive than Eddie necessarily needed, it wasn’t as if he’d never imagined something not entirely dissimilar happening to his dad during Carl’s worst moments, back when Eddie was a teen.

Anyway.

**_He deserved to suffer, _**Venom was working himself up into a proper snit, presumably having picked up on at least some of the highlights of his host’s childhood Eddie was never going to acknowledge recalling, **_The things he did to you –_**

There was real indignant _hurt_ in his voice. Hurt Eddie hadn’t expected; hurt on his behalf; hurt that he really, really couldn’t cope with right now.

“Yeah all right, no need to go detailing any of the top ten moments or anything,” Automatically mentally sidestepping, he squirmed physically as well. The movement inadvertently ground his crotch against tentacles looped around his thighs, which – okay, _which _– “_Agh_ fuck –”

Yeah, so not the time to be thinking about _that _either. If Eddie started considering Carl Brock and anything even vaguely to do with his dick in the same sentence, he’d doom himself to never, ever getting it up again.

**_Eddie?_** Venom had let him go the instant Eddie began wriggling, the symbiote's arms loosening, tentacles going slack.

Instantly discovering he regretted this intensely, Eddie shook his head.

“Yeah – no – I, uh. Fuck,” He flailed mentally for a change of subject, “Come on, let’s get out of here. Even if we do have to climb a tree to figure out which direction to go.”

They’d find a way eventually. Get some dinner – of whatever kind. Get home. It was long gone the time any pursuers were likely to appear and, anyway, Eddie wouldn't be surprised if the hell fox ate interlopers who dared enter its territory.

**_We'll find a way that doesn't involve tree-climbing, _**Venom assured him.

“Thanks,” Glancing up gratefully, Eddie caught sight of –

Of the fox, standing on top a fallen trunk at the other side of the rough clearing they were in, its eyes agleam as it stared straight at them.

He jumped hard enough his teeth clacked, “_Gah fuck_ –”

**_Gah fuck – _**Flailing likewise, Venom cringed in anticipation of more demonic noises. And –

And Eddie suddenly, abruptly, was _laughing_. A kind of rusty, broken sound juddering out of him, but it was laughter all the same.

“Still your new best friend?” He simply had to tease his symbiote, unexpectedly discovering he was feeling a bit better, feeling warmer and much more kindly disposed to the fox now he wasn’t the only one it was freaking out.

** _Hmph! _ **

Smiling a little, Eddie gave his symbiote an affectionate squeeze as Venom huffed and smoothed back out into the onesie get up, projecting readiness to suit up properly if required and No Concern Whatsoever about their vulpine buddy.

Eddie looked at the fox.

Apparently deciding they passed muster after all _–_ or as if perhaps its point had been made _–_ the fox twitched its tail and darted off, disappearing into the undergrowth. A tentacle chose this point to protrude and thwack Eddie gently around the head.

**You’re_ my best friend, Eddie._**

“O-oh,” Eddie promptly fell over a root, “Oh, that’s – thanks, Vee. Really. You know, you too.”

He was smiling again entirely without meaning to.

**_You’re my everything, _**Venom added, quieter, which was –

“Yeah,” Eddie just breathed for a moment, falling still as up above the trees the moon broke out from behind the clouds, “Yeah, you know. Same here.”

\--

The amount of mud they tracked into the apartment was _hideous_, once they’d fallen in through the window a couple of hours later. Venom immediately rolled out of Eddie except for a single tentacle linking them, heading straight for the fridge.

“Meh. Tomorrow’s problem,” Eddie concluded and thus left the mess for the next day’s them to deal with, trekking after his symbiote. Appreciating their home more than he’d probably ever appreciated it as he went, sending a happy glance around at their things.

He’d never consciously realised quite how much of a mark Venom had made on the place – magazines and video games strewn about, contrasted by the neat little stack of chocolate bars on the coffee table left carefully for later. That cookbook he had insisted Eddie buy and then spent a lot of time drooling over the photos, while they both worked themselves up to trying out the recipes. The little cactus that had caught Venom’s eye in the marketplace in pride of place on the windowsill next to Eddie’s sad plant.

There were other signs too – the fact that they did the dishes nowadays and cleaned the counters, Eddie no longer finding it such a mammoth task to complete. They had even swept once or twice since first restoring the apartment to rights after the Life Foundation, and a certain symbiote always insisted on regularly taking out the trash. Anne had been justifiably shocked when she and Dan had last dropped over.

It had always been just the place Eddie had ended up in after their break up, before. But now it was his and Venom’s home.

Eddie was smiling again, “Want to clean up before bed?”

Busy eating all the cereal straight out of the boxes, probably having already consumed all the milk, Venom sent Eddie back a wordless **_Fuck yes, we stink._**

“We do stink,” Eddie didn’t even need to do a test sniff at an armpit to tell. All that mortal peril had resulted in an inevitable amount of terrified sweat, which – yeah. Pleasant. Also he looked pretty much like he’d belly flopped in mud and then rolled around in it for shits and giggles.

“_So tired_,” Forcing himself under a quick shower to sluice the stuff off, Eddie decided they were worn out and achy enough to be indulgent and damn the water bill. Running the bath, he dumped in a good slug of the sparkly pink kids’ bubble bath a certain black gloop forever denied liking, fluffing them up.

“Ahhh, oh my god that’s better,” A blissful sigh of relief popped out of him uncontrollably when he sank into the water, so hot it was barely off scalding – it felt so good he practically _orgasmed_. He raised his voice, “Coming, Vee?”

**_Eddie –? _**Sporting no few stray bits of cereal, Venom poked a little head into the bathroom, eye spots blinking in enquiry, his little tongue poking out, **_Why are you trying to cook yourself?_**

“Why would I be cooking myself,” Snorting, Eddie waved a hand to send out a little slosh of water towards him, only all the more amused when Venom let out an **_eep!_** and darted back, “Look at you gone all cute.”

**_Not cute in the slightest, _**His symbiote completely unsurprisingly grumped –

And then surged into the room to ooze up over the side of the bath and into the water with a plop, which Eddie hadn’t predicted in the slightest.

“_Errr _–” His stomach tensed as he mentally floundered, but Venom simply all but literally _melted_, diffusing beneath the layer of bubbles.

** _Oh my god ahhh. _**

Okay, so someone else also liked the heat.

“B-better, yeah?” Instructing himself to get his act together, Eddie picked out the bits of cereal that floated up in the bath and shifted his knees, not quite sure how to position himself given the unexpected company. He’d kind of presumed Venom would just go back inside him or something, like his symbiote had always done previously, only extending a tentacle or two to wage war on the bubbles.

**_Fuck yeah. _**Eddie could feel Venom grinning, even if he couldn’t see it, **_So much better. _**

God, the sheer _pleasure_ in his answer made Eddie’s ears prickle and his throat dry, the heat of the bath all seeming to flow up into his chest and neck.

**_Oh wait, we got you something, _**Venom seemed to remember a second later, and a lone tentacle Eddie hadn’t noticed until now very slowly and carefully produced a tray, on which was balanced a bowl of cereal with milk and a cup of steaming hot coffee.

“Shit, Vee – you are the _best_,” Entirely forgetting his tension, Eddie splashed a fair amount of bubbles onto the floor in enthusiasm as he sat up and pretty much fell onto the tray, only Venom’s reflexes saving the entire thing from ending up in the bath. “Mm, _fuck_.”

Eddie had never enjoyed cereal so much in his _life_ – he’d been hungrier and thirstier than he realised, not just as a side effect of Venom’s own need, and the coffee was brewed _exactly_ the way he liked –

“You,” Eddie informed Venom when a little black and white face swam into being beneath the water, “Are a _god_.”

** _We’d have made you coffee and cereal ages ago if we knew that was all it took to get you to truly appreciate us. _**His little alien gloop cracked up laughing, but Eddie could feel Venom’s surprise and delight shivering through him, his joy at having so pleased his host.

“I don’t appreciate you enough, do I,” Eddie bit his lower lip hard as tentacles spiralled around his forearms and – _oh_ – lower down, under the water, around his ankles and knees. Balancing the emptied cup, bowl and tray on a corner of the bath, he dunked his hands under the surface to scoop up that little face, smiling as Venom's little head and neck solidified within his cupped palms. Fuck but his alien gloop could make himself _adorable_ – Eddie could admit that. “I really do, you know. Appreciate you.”

Beaming, Venom snaked up out of the bubbles to butt his small noggin against Eddie’s forehead, **_The sentiment is mutual, Eddie. _**

“_Vee_ –” Unthinking, wanting only to express just how much love he was feeling for him in that moment, Eddie leaned in and kissed Venom between his little eye spots.

**_Eddie! _**Venom _gasped_.

“Oh,” Heat bursting inside Eddie’s belly and chest, he shut his eyes and kissed him again, first on Venom’s darling little cheek and then – oh, then – the tip of his dear round snout, Venom’s tiny tongue catching the corner of Eddie’s lips in a possibly accidental lick as Eddie pressed another kiss to the side of his symbiote’s little mouth.

“_Hah_ – Vee –” He was shaking. But Venom wasn’t pulling away, wasn’t shouldering Eddie off and screaming at him. Wasn’t striking him down or calling him disgusting or a loser or a pussy or whatever the hell Eddie had been powerless not to so, so fear he would –

** _E-Eddie – _ **

Instead his symbiote was winding ever nearer, giving enthusiastically fervent little licky kisses back to Eddie’s cheeks and chin in a way that absolutely wasn’t accidental, in a way Eddie had never dared even dream he would, and Eddie –

Eddie –

“Fucking – _fuck_ –”

Eddie was _crying_ again, wasn’t he. His body just deciding to go ahead and do it, entirely out of his control; in a way that had nothing to do with Venom. He shook, hiccupping with ugly hitching sobs he tried to choke back – ridiculously, like the world’s biggest bloody fool.

'Fucking fuck' indeed.

**_No, _**Venom said this very firmly, pulling back just enough to aim the sternest and single most adorable glower at his host, **_You are not a fool, Eddie, and there is _nothing_ ridiculous about any of your emotions. I am sorry if I ever – _ever_ – made you feel that there was. _**

“N-no, you – you haven’t, you _don’t_,” Pressing a wet hand over his eyes, Eddie grappled at him sightlessly, longing for his symbiote to stay so very close but unable to admit it.

Venom –

“Oh –”

Venom was definitely increasing in size, wasn’t he; was definitely forming himself his larger, humanoid body right there in between Eddie’s knees, proportioned so he would fit, and – oh god, Eddie was naked and they were in the bath, and – and –

**_It’s all right, _**Venom said, as he had earlier, and pressed their foreheads together, his palms on Eddie’s cheeks. Leaning into his host, surrounding him, holding him gently in the still warm water like that.

**_Eddie, Klyntar can cry, do you know that? Well – not exactly, not in the way humans do. But the resemblance is there; the cause of the action the same. _**He shrugged a bit, not quite awkward, **_Physical manifestations of sorrow or grief or relief aren’t limited to humans. _**

“Yeah, I – I know,” Venom’s tongue curled warm and sleek around the base of Eddie’s throat and he shuddered at the feel of it, but it wasn’t from dislike, not at all.

**_Not that I ever saw Riot or any of the others do it, _**Venom huffed a little. Sharp teeth grazed Eddie’s jaw and he gulped. **_But I – You already know I was an outsider. And I felt lonely and bad, much of the time. _**

“Vee, I’m so sorry,” Eddie very clearly heard the way Venom’s tone implied ‘most’ rather than ‘much’. Possibly even ‘all’.

And the implication of all this was apparent – that even if _other_ Klyntar didn’t cry, Eddie’s very own alien gloop had found a way. Eddie’s heart ached at the thought, so much so his breath snagged in his throat and fresh tears spilled over his lashes.

He wasn’t quite so very quick to hide his face or wipe them away this time, chewing his lip when a tentacle tip slipped across his cheek to do it for him. Lips twitching in the tiniest of rueful smiles, “T-thanks.”

**_You don’t have to be sorry, _**Venom leaned in again to mumur against his host's temple, snout brushing Eddie's hair over his ear, **_The fact you accept me and our bond is – amazing. More than I ever expected. More than enough. _**He didn't quite hesitate. **_It__**’**s – Eddie,_ you’re_ – all that I want._**

“Jesus Vee, you’re making me blush,” Eddie had to mumble, because the – the implications of – of, you know, that last part were – were –

Were him reading into things, no doubt.

Being presumptuous. Projecting.

_Anyway_ –

Anyway, it was true: Eddie _was_ blushing, fiercely, excruciatingly so. But this, ah. This was just a result of the hot bath and him having had such a bout of Feelings, that was all.

**_I know you're blushing._** **_I like it,_** Venom _grinned_, and while his host was startled into spluttering, did what Eddie thought of as the mental equivalent of clearing his throat.**_ That said – Eddie, I don’t think you would like me to show you any of the ‘highlights’ of my past. _**

Eddie didn’t have to try to sense a wealth of insecurity and vulnerability beneath those words.

“It’s okay,” He already deeply hated all the bastards back on Venom’s home planet who’d treated his symbiote like shit for so long – Eddie wasn’t sure his heart could cope with actually witnessing any of it, as it were, unless it would help Venom to show him.

The tentacles around Eddie’s wrists and ankles were coiling ever closer, as if seeking the comfort of the contact, **_I will if you want. _**

“Only if _you_ want me to,” Eddie wound his own arms around Venom’s broad shoulders in return, holding on, knees bumping his alien gloop’s hips. He sighed, “Fuck, but we’re a right pair, aren’t we.”

Nestling into Eddie’s neck, Venom harrumphed. **_We’re not a ‘pair’; we’re One._**

“Heh – yeah, that we are,” Letting himself bring a hand up to run his palm and fingers over the back of Venom’s head, Eddie smiled; cupping the place where the back of Venom’s skull would be, feeling him let out a rumbling purr.

**_Eddie, _**Venom said, wanting, almost furtive, **_Eddie – _**

“Uh –” Eddie's heartbeat promptly went haywire.

**_Can we – _**Venom was pressing his body forwards just a bit, like an offer, tentacles still holding gentle but firm onto Eddie’s ankles and wrists. Angling his chest and abdomen and hips in very close to Eddie’s own body, making Eddie abruptly, immensely aware of the positioning of all of it, and of his nakedness, and the lack of any space between them –

And of how, precisely, his body was reacting to all this.

**_Eddie –_** Venom repeated, and there was almost a plea to it, **_We want to – please. Will you – will you let us?_**

“Ah –” Eddie couldn’t form words, but he could close his eyes and he could nod, so he did these things and felt Venom shudder and sigh in desire and relief. And then his symbiote pushed down that bit more against Eddie, and – _and_ –

“_Oh – oh_ –” Eddie’s voice was tiny, almost distant, almost like it wasn’t him speaking. Like it wasn’t his cock growing hard so quickly it almost hurt, jutting up against Venom as he rocked down against it, his symbiote moving so carefully, almost tentatively, very slow.

Cradling Eddie against his great chest as if his host might fly apart otherwise, as if Eddie might break.

“V-Vee, not going to – we’re not going to break –” Eddie felt almost incoherent and not really anything had even happened yet. He knew he was perhaps already broken, perhaps always had been, but not – not like _this_. This was piecing him back together. This was making him whole.

Venom made him whole.

“Vee, please. _More _–”

**_Hush, Eddie, _**Venom, if anything, slowed down even further. **_Just – let us do this. Just feel._**

“Ahhh –” His thighs and stomach and pelvis all tingling wildly, Eddie clung onto his alien gloop, his body thrumming with sensation, every part of him responding and shivering to life. Trembling at the feel of Venom’s large, powerful body touching his with such precision and intent, with so much tenderness; that great, strong body that was in some ways also his own –

Venom didn’t have anything there usually at the juncture between his thighs, but Eddie’s breath fractured into a moan as he felt something – _something_ – softer and more yielding there than his symbiote had ever been, and his dick –

His dick took prompt advantage of this transformation, the slick head of it sliding –

Sliding _inside._

“_O-oh sweet holy mother of fuck_,” Eddie’s eyes flew open entirely without his intent, and there was Venom grinning down at him; there was his symbiote – and the world snapped back into focus sharper than ever before.

Eddie _was_ the one speaking, he _was_ here; _they_ were here. They were doing this; he couldn’t pretend otherwise; he didn’t _want_ to pretend otherwise, and –

And it was _utterly fucking fantastic_.

**_Hi Eddie, _**Grinning, Venom _tightened_ internal muscles he bloody well _didn’t have_, squeezing down with _exactly_ the right amount of pressure around Eddie’s suddenly frantic cock. **_Welcome back._**

“_Oh my god_,” Eddie’s fingers clutched hard at his symbiote’s broad shoulders, mouth falling open, “Vee, oh my god –”

**_Still not a god, Eddie, _**Amused, Venom let up on the squeeze only to ripple around Eddie’s shaft in a way no human body part had ever, ever rippled around it, and Eddie let out the highest pitched pleading squeak ever heard –

And that soft, yielding something between his symbiote’s legs _changed_, firming up into what felt very much like _fingers _instead, closing in a fist around Eddie’s dick and tugging – tugging upwards so fucking sweetly Eddie’s eyes near rolled back into his head –

“Uh – uh – Vee – oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck –”

Before all the warmth and sensation around his cock _vanished_ without warning, the feeling of it somehow diving _into_ his cock instead, Venom seeming to fill it all up from the inside –

“_Fuuuck_,” Fingers unconsciously clawing deep lines into his alien gloop’s back, Eddie _groaned._

**_Good? _**Venom spilled down inside Eddie’s balls as well, rolling himself up inside his host’s scrotum, snuffling around in there before touching something nearby – _something_ – something that made Eddie squeak even higher, so high he could only cough afterwards and shiver and laugh.

Yeah, okay, so he was guessing that was his prostate.

“Fuck – fuck – _it's so fucking much better than good_ –” He wanted –

He so desperately wanted to do something for Venom as well, swept along here as he was for the ride. Tentacles pinning Eddie's knees and ankles to the sides of the bath now, water sloshing onto the floor as his hips sought to thrust up and Venom tugged him back down –

By the balls.

“_Fuuuck!_”

** _Not yet, Eddie, _**Eddie could _feel_ his grin, **_You _are_ doing something for us. And you can do more later._**

“Vee!” Grasping at Venom's back, Eddie tried his utmost to squirm, delighted when further tentacles whipped around his waist to prevent him, full on yelling as his alien gloop massaged and circled that world-shaking place inside him unrelentingly, “Fuck – more please, Vee – more, more, _more_ –”

**_Y-Yes, _**There – There was a tentacle nosing between Eddie’s ass cheeks suddenly, tickling over his rim and making him yelp, and Eddie bit down on Venom’s shoulder in pure, panting desire as he felt it work its way _inward_ a bit, testing.

“Oh god – o-oh goddd –” He sought to push himself down on it hungrily, greedily, even as he tightened his arms even further around Venom’s shoulders as if seeking to physically squash them into being One.

His symbiote quaked against him, **_H-hah – Eddie, yes – _ **

Eddie was well aware Venom was damn well more or less making this up as he went along, testing his host’s reactions along with his own and going with what make them shout. It was the bloody best method of experimentation Eddie had ever experienced, Venom swivelling his hips back down against his host and sucking Eddie's cock back inside him again –

“_Yes_ –_!_”

The difference this time being that the soft, yielding part of his symbiote firmed at once into the sensation of fingers slipping and sliding over the head of his cock, the frenulum, the taut skin of his scrotum where another part of his alien gloop still curled within –

And then Venom was soft again around Eddie’s cock, and then firmer, if not quite as firm as before – and then grinding down, squeezing down on him precisely the amount before it became too much, tight enough that it made Eddie scrabble at him and sweat and grunt.

“Vee – _shit_ – _Vee_ – shit, shit –”

**_Eddie – more of this – Eddie –_ please - **Venom sent the sensation of fingers tripping up the _inside_ of Eddie’s shaft as well, and Eddie very, very nearly cracked heads with him, his body lurched him backwards and then forwards so fast.

“Fuck fuck fuck! More – more, yes – ahhh fuck– _Vee!_” He was flailing, overcome by the whole of it, by the intensity of it, by how incredible and unpredictable it was; how unlike any sex he’d ever previously had. Bursting into motion, thrusting up through the tentacles holding onto him and into Venom before his symbiote could pick up on the intention.

**_Ah! Eddie! Yes! _**Entirely unused to the sensation of being fucked, Venom _wailed_.

“Oh god – oh god – V-Vee, this all right?” Eddie braced his heels against the bath the instant the tentacles around his ankles slackened, his alien gloop unable to concentrate on all the things he was doing along with what was now being done to him.

**_Yes – Eddie, yes! _**Venom dragged his own fingers down Eddie’s back, claws digging in hard enough to raise red lines over the length of his spine, yet, even now, taking the utmost care to never come close to actually hurting his host. **_Eddie, fuck me, come on –_**

The tentacle stirred within Eddie’s ass, sliding in further before pulling out again –

** _Let us fuck you as well._ **

“_Yes_,” Peeling one of his hands away from its death grip on Venom’s back, Eddie reached down between them, moaning as he touched the place they were joined, “Yes – yes, let’s fucking do that –”

Rocking up into Venom over and over, Eddie tucked his fingers inside his symbiote alongside his cock, spreading them gently inside his alien gloop –

** _Oh fuckkk – Eddie Eddie Eddie ahhh ahhh –_ **

Taken off guard, Venom tipped over into orgasm, blindsided by it, almost collapsing on top of his host as he lost all ability to do basically anything, struggling to maintain his humanoid form.

**_Oh my fucking –ah – ah – _fuck_ – _**He'd never, ever felt anything like this before –

“Ah ah – oh – _Vee!” _Eddie was bowled along helplessly into orgasm as well, his cock jerking wildly inside his symbiote, hearing him yelp at the feel of it; at the sensation of the spunk pumping out of Eddie’s dick splashing hot inside Venom’s body mass; inside the version of genitals Venom had formed for them both –

“Oh fuck, you are wonderful, that was wonderful, I love you, oh fuck –” Eddie collapsed much as Venom had, his back hitting the bath, finding his eyes were closed and peeling them open to see his alien gloop –

** _Eddie –_ **

Holding himself extremely still above him. Staring at Eddie in shock.

“Uh,” Eddie hadn’t expected this reaction. Blinking, stupefied by the sex, he tried to process. “Whuh –?”

**_You love me, _**Venom said.

“I, uh, ah, what?” Blushing _hard_, Eddie’s brain caught up with his mouth, “Oh.”

Oh shit.

“Oh yeah. I, um. Said that. That was a thing that I said,” His attempt at a chuckle petered out after half a second, his attention grabbed by the realisation his dick was still buried inside his alien gloop. He swallowed, “Right.”

Venom tipped his head. He was fraying rather literally at the edges, not quite succeeding in holding onto his usual shape, but his face was there and his expression was – it was –

Eddie took a deep breath in. And then another, even deeper.

He tried again, firmly now, “Right.”

**_Right? _**Venom’s voice was – small. Eddie had never heard him sound so defenceless. Vulnerable.

As if Eddie could shatter him without even trying.

“Hey,” Eddie reached out with hands that didn’t shake at all. Cradling his symbiote’s face in his hands, guiding Venom in until they were resting forehead to forehead like they had before. Feeling like they were on the very verge of something life changing.

**_Eddie? _**There was still so much uncertainty in Venom’s tone, however much he was trying to hide it.

Eddie smiled, “Yeah. I love you, Vee. Very much.”

With his whole heart, even. His whole self.

** _E-Eddie –! Oh –_ **

And this –

This was how his symbiote cried, Eddie realised – desperate trembling tentacles winding around his host as Venom burrowed in against him, spasms chasing through his alien gloop’s body mass; Venom’s very self quivering across their bond in a soundless howl –

But he wasn't crying with sorrow or grief.

“_Vee_,” Tears stung Eddie’s own eyes similarly, overcome by the very same emotion –

By joy.

**_I love you too, of course, _**Venom managed eventually, when he’d pulled himself quite literally together, **_But you already know that._**

“Hey –” Eddie automatically went to protest, because how was he supposed to have known –

Oh.

Yeah. He did already know.

“Vee, I love you,” Eddie might have already said this, but it required repeating, “_I love you_.”

As did pressing his lips to the corner of Venom’s mouth, to that very place he had kissed before when his symbiote was small –

**Eddie, **Venom reacted at once, surging forwards against his host before forcibly stopping himself short, forcing himself back as he had that time before, **_Eddie, please – please – don’t stop – don’t stop this time –_**

“I never wanted to stop,” Eddie could confess now. Then he was tipping Venom’s head to one side, angling his chin, kissing that tongue and those teeth before they retreated, kissing Venom –

_Kissing_ _Venom_ –

And Venom was kissing him back.

“_Vee_ –” It was the best thing, the very best thing, Eddie had ever done. He couldn't bear the thought of stopping again; of breaking away and pulling back –

So he didn’t. They didn't.

** _Mm –_ **

“_Mm_ –” Eddie kissed Venom and kissed and kissed and kissed him, and Venom kissed him back, and it didn’t matter that there was virtually no water in the bath anymore and what little there was of it was growing cold.

“Venom – Vee –” Eddie was still inside his alien gloop, his cock stiffening anew inside that space Venom had made for him, and this time he reached his fingers down to craft himself something to tug as well. Pushing up against Venom even as they kissed, fumbling awkwardly to change position; Eddie flopping down on top of his symbiote as Venom lay back in the bath. His cock sliding deeper inside his alien gloop as he rolled his hips, working his hand on the tentacle they both instantly thought of as a cock, kissing and kissing as they fucked –

** _Eddie! E-Eddie!_ **

The second time turned out to be just as remarkable, just as brilliant as the first.

“Hah – damn,” Neither of them had the energy to get out of the bath afterwards. Eddie just pulled out the plug to let out the last trickle of water, while Venom replaced it afterwards and turned on the tap to fill the tub back up.

They sloshed limply like that for a while.

“Water bill’s going to be crazy,” Eddie officially Did Not Care.

Venom snuggled against him, curled up small and cute now on his chest, **_We’ll manage._**

Eddie grinned, resting his chin atop his symbiote’s little head, “Yeah, somehow.”

** _Could write an article for that paper about the demon fox in the woods._ **

That ‘paper’ was a trashy conspiracy theory rag that had been chasing Eddie for months for an exclusive about the completely unfounded rumours he supposedly possessed some sort of knowledge about the existence of an obviously fictional ‘goo creature’ that was said to occasionally daintily apprehend criminals on the streets of San Francisco.

“Nah, they’re blatantly full of bullshit,” Eddie, despite this protest, was considering it. Because if any paper would gobble up a story about a freaky as fuck animal, it was that one. Even if there was the possibility the fox had simply been demonstrating normal behaviour, given they’d invaded its territory and it had absolutely no idea what they were.

Interesting that it hadn’t viewed Venom as a threat. Although, other than posturing, he hadn’t actually done anything threatening to it.

“You really did like it, didn’t you,” Eddie mused, rubbing finger and thumb over his symbiote’s little head, “Even though it ate the rabbit.”

**_Even though no creature should ever be permitted to make such a noise, _**Venom sniffed, which was a yes. **_Eddie – _**

He paused, unsure whether to continue, so Eddie sent wordless encouragement, suspecting what his alien gloop was going to say.

Sure enough,

**_I’m sorry about the bike, _**Venom tucked himself in tighter against Eddie’s jaw, little forehead pressing against his cheek, **_I’m sorry about everything that happened earlier, including falling over that cat. But I’m sorry more than anything that you got hurt and our bike got trashed._**

“I’m sorry too,” Eddie turned his head to drop a kiss against that little round noggin, where his fingers had earlier rubbed, “It wasn’t either of our fault – don’t you go blaming yourself.”

**_Wasn’t blaming myself, _**Venom insisted in the tone of one who totally was.

“You’d better not,” was all Eddie said mildly. Relaxing back in the bath – which was starting, for the second time, to get a bit chilly _–_ he sighed, “I didn’t mean to get so torn up about it.” He had no idea when broken bones had stopped being a big deal, the damage done to him by the truck having seemed so much less important than their bike getting written off.

Although – no, actually Eddie _did_ know. It wasn’t that he didn’t care about getting hurt; it was just that he had a symbiote who was so entirely awesome at patching him up that Eddie wasn’t afraid of it. Whereas the bike –

Well.

It hadn’t been Eddie’s original – that had been written off similarly, after that first big damn car chase – but a new one. It had been the one he and Venom had picked out together, bought together, after all the Life Foundation fiasco. The first big thing he and Venom had chosen as part of their new life, as _them_.

They’d both seen it and known it was the One.

** _Eddie –_ **

“Yeah, I know,” Eddie swiped at his eyes, “We can save up for another one. Eventually.” He laughed a little, ignoring the husk to his tone, “It’s just – I remember glancing back as we had to dash off to get away from the guns and those fucking Hydra boom boxes of doom. I remember seeing our bike just – just ruined, l-lying there in the street, and I just –”

It was dumb. It was dumb and stupid and he felt all kinds of foolish admitting it, but –

**_Eddie, _**Venom’s tiny tongue licked his cheek in support.

Eddie swallowed, “But it felt somehow like we were – running off and leaving a part of ourselves behind. Of Us. Of _you_.”

Like back when he’d been falling, falling, watching Venom burning away into nothing above him, unable to do anything but scream for his symbiote, for the other half of his heart –

And that. _That _was the Horrible Something.

Not losing the bike, not really. But the fear of Hydra having worked out one of their major weaknesses – which really was quite obvious, to anyone who ever got hold of that leaked video footage of Venom and Riot going for it on the rocket, which kept popping up on the internet and Eddie fought time and again to quash –

And the fear of losing Venom. Losing him for real, and being helpless to do anything about it, helpless to fight back –

Losing him forever.

**_Eddie, _**Venom was building himself up under Eddie, buoying him up, folding his host into his arms, kissing him slow and breathtakingly sweet, **_Eddie, Eddie. Do you think I’m not fucking terrified of exactly the same damn thing? Losing you would be –_**

He wouldn’t survive it. Didn’t _want_ to survive it.

** _No._ **

“Yeah, no,” Eddie didn’t want to survive it, either.

But –

But.

“But – _fuck that_,” He took in a deep cleansing breath. “Fuck Hydra. Fuck anyone who tries to screw with us.” Bracing his hands against bottom of the tub, he propped himself enough to grin down at Venom, “We’ll fight back. We’ll always fight back. You and me, right? Us.”

**_Us, _**Venom agreed happily, **_Always._**

“We’ll bite the heads off any bastard who dares think they can take us on,” Eddie was grinning more and more widely, “You can even break out some of your awesome one liners and attempt to scare them first.”

**_What do you mean, ‘attempt’, _**Eyes narrowing, Venom asked, scandalised, **_We are the most frightening entity our enemies will ever encounter in their brief, pitiful lives._**

“You’re a marshmallow,” Eddie contradicted, and completely failed to evade the tentacle that swatted him, breaking out into laughter when Venom promptly got him with a dozen more, all of them aiming for his ticklish sides, “Full of sweet and delicious fluff.”

**_That’s you, Eddie, not me! _**His alien gloop’s tone of betrayal only made Eddie laugh all the harder.

Squirming, he swatted back ineffectually, “Nope, not me. Vee, you’re cotton candy.”

**_We’ll get you! _**Growling, Venom bit Eddie, as if doing so in any way covered his own helpless laughter, gnawing at his host painlessly, **_You can be my tater tot, Eddie. We’ll eat you all up._**

“Sure, any time,” His face flushed, breathless with amusement, Eddie agreed eagerly and reeled him in.


End file.
